Common Ground
by slugzillla
Summary: Many past experiences and lack of proper parental guidance has led to various mental health problems that Eddward has been trying to solve with help of a therapist. One day in therapy he runs into Kevin, his notorious middle school bully and neighbor. Since when does popular, confident, Kevin Barr need therapy? Can these boys help each other despite the past? {KevEdd}
1. Anxiety

"Do you want to die, Eddward?"

"I...no, I don't believe so." came the timid answer, spoken hardly above a whisper.

Eddward was confused, it was difficult to try and sort his emotions accordingly and it bothered the boy greatly. He was what some would call a genius but here he was, struggling to thoroughly answer the questions being asked. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence though, once a week Eddward came here to see his therapist, and he had been for the past three months.

Of course, though, he had set up these appointments himself. His parents were never around to be there for him so there was little to no chance they'd be there to set up therapy. He did everything himself, doctors appointments, therapy, dental visits, everything he managed on his own; but it wasn't tedious. Eddward enjoyed being in control of everything that directly involved him, it ensured stability in his life and his schedules.

"It's okay not to know, at least that's better than a yes." the woman replied, quickly skimming the file in her hand. Despite Eddward being one of her more regular patients she was adamant to make sure she remembered everything on his file. The thorough undertaking put Eddward at ease. "How has your anxiety been lately? Better or worse? Last time you were here you told me you didn't know, do you think you know now?" she questioned, looking at the frail boy with soft brown eyes.

He began to shrug but stopped himself, his mind muddled. "I wouldn't say better, but it is not any worse than usual. The same triggers cause my anxiety and it has been to the same extent as always." he replied quietly, reaching up to scratch at his hat as he usually did when he was feeling nervous or embarrassed. "I suppose it is a bit better in a sense, because the other night I arrived home ten minutes late due to Eddys antics, and it didn't seem to bother me as much as usual. But it seems my mind made up for the little moment of peace because later that night because as I was counting the ants in my ant farm, I could not find one and this resulted in a minor anxiety attack." he informed her, glancing at the clock to see he had eleven minutes and seventeen seconds of therapy left.

"Okay, I want you to do something for me- ah, hold on." the therapist turned in her swivel chair to retrieve a pen an small note pad. Placing them on the table before Eddward she continued speaking, "I want you to write down things that calm you down or keep you at ease, as many things as you want, doesn't matter what it is."

Doing as he was asked Eddward picked up the pen and began to write a neat list of things that made him feel better. It went, as follows:

1\. Having a thought out, written down list of events or a schedule.  
2\. Counting the numerous ants in my ant farm, 606 harvester ants; all workers.  
3\. Watering my garden.  
4\. Reading; Doing schoolwork.  
5\. Cleaning.  
6\. Spending time with Ed and Eddy.

Thinking for a moment he decided a list of six activities would suffice and pushed the notepad back towards his therapist.

Picking up the list and reading it over, the woman nodded and set it back down. "Okay I want you to keep this list with you, all the time, so whenever you start feeling anxious you can have it to rely on. Or if you can't do anything on the list then you can count the things you wrote, two things three times? Do you think that might help?" she said, putting the pen in her hand down on her clip board as she glanced at the clock.

"I suppose so, it wouldn't hurt to try at least." he replied, nodding to himself as he ripped the paper off the notepad and folded it neatly, six times, into a small square. Eddward tucked the slip of paper into his pocket and glanced at the clock again, 4 minutes and 28 seconds.

For the remaining time the two briefly talked about what should be discussed next week before the clock hit 5:00 pm. Standing up he smiled at the therapist and shook her hand twice, a thing he did each time before he left.

"I'll see you again next week, Eddward." she said with a smile, waving him off so she could take her next patient.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Davis." he replied, walking down the short hall to the waiting room with his hands wrapped tightly around the strap of his messenger bag. He would address her by her first name, Susan, like she offered, but it felt too strange to be so informal with her. As he kept his gaze on the Victorian style carpet, he suddenly felt himself collide with a solid force. At first he assumed maybe he ran into a wall, but after a quick analysis of what it felt like he realized it was not a wall, a wall wasn't warm nor covered in fabric. Looking up he quickly took two steps back, eyes wide and hands quickly make their way to his hat, holding onto it as if it were going to fly away.

Standing before him was someone he hadn't seen face-to-face in a while. Sure, they lived in the same cul-de-sac, ever since they were children, and they had always attended school together, but they were never friends. Here, in the only place other than his home Eddward could feel at ease, stood Kevin Barr; his notorious middle school bully. Eddward was speechless and it took him a few seconds to sputter out a quiet "I'm sorry".

Kevin scowled, nose scrunched up as he brushed off the front of his letterman. "Move." he spat, shouldering past the thin boy and walking into the room Eddward had just left without another word.

Anxiety spiked in Eddwards chest. Still holding onto his hat with one hand he quickly left the building and took a deep breath the moment he was outside. Why was Kevin here? This was Eddwards haven, and now it was in danger of becoming something to cause anxiety. Why would someone like Kevin need therapy anyways..?

 **Hello! I am aware there are many cliche high school KevEdd stories, but I'm going to add to the mix regardless.**

 **I hope this chapter is alright, I plan on continuing this story with regular updates, especially now that school is coming to an end. Please, feel free to review and offer some critiques! Thank you for reading.**


	2. Anger Issues

Kevin didn't sign up for this, this wasn't his idea, this wasn't his choice, and he refused to cooperate. He was the most popular kid in school, he was star of the football team, and come on, his grades weren't half bad either; but still he was being forced to sit in this dimly lit room that was supposed to be "therapeutic".

The therapist was talking, but he wasn't listening, he just watched her mouth move with the most bored expression he could pull. He thought about Double D briefly, wondering why Mr. Goodie-Two-Shoes needed therapy. The kid was a genius with the perfect grades and perfect house, what could be wrong with that? He thought back to when they were younger and he remembered the dorks scary parents were hardly seen, even on the off chance they were actually at home. He met them once, they were both tall and very formal; they seemed to only talk to Double D when they were telling him to do something.

"Kevin?"

"Huh?" the ginger replied, snapping out of his slight daze. His therapist had caught onto the fact that he wasn't paying attention and she sighed.

"I know you don't want to be here, Kevin, but just try to pay attention, okay? It might help if you just give it a chance." she stated, giving him a small, sympathetic smile. "Now, I was trying to ask, do you know why you're here?"

"Pft, no." Kevin scoffed, shifting in his seat as he rolled his eyes.

"Alright, well, your father thinks you might have anger issues, so we set up this appointment to see if I can give you a professional diagnoses." she explained in a pleasant voice, a voice that only irritated Kevin further.

"I don't have anger issues." he was quick to snap, despite knowing the denial would probably only make her believe his father more. Sure, he got angry at times, and he guessed maybe it could be a little irrational, but he wouldn't say it was anger issues. He was a hormonal teen, like all adults say, don't normal teens get angry sometimes, sheesh.

The woman wrote something down on her clip board and Kevin could feel himself getting angry, he glared at her as she wrote.

"What are you writing? I just told you I don't have anger issues. There's nothing to write about that." he practically spat, frowning at her bitterly.

"I'm just taking notes, Kevin, nothing to worry about. I want to ask how you're feeling, particularly right now." she said, picking up on his increasingly defensive behavior with ease, this was her job after all. She could already see why Kevins father had set up this appointment to begin with. She couldn't make a diagnosis yet but she had a hunch.

"I feel like this is fucking dumb, that's what I feel like." he retorted, crossing his arms with a sigh. _'You're being childish.'_ his mind told him, but he couldn't help it, the anger was just there, whether or not it was valid. It welled up inside him and he wanted to scream, even the slightest thing would set him off and it was never consistent.

Kevin took a deep breath and let out another sigh, he knew this would help him, therapy could fix whatever the fuck was wrong with him, but he couldn't bring himself to cooperate. It mostly out of spite, his dad didn't ask whether or not he wanted therapy, whether or not he wanted some lady to dissect his brain just by talking to him. Maybe if his dad had asked this would be easier, but it was just the point that no one questioned how Kevin felt, and that made him act this way.

"Alright, that's okay, why do you think this is stupid?" she questioned, watching his body language carefully.

"Ugh, because it just is! I didn't ask to be here, no one asked if I wanted therapy! Nothings wrong with me!" he said, raising his voice, "And stop staring at me!". This whole time he was restless, constantly fidgeting in his seat, cracking his knuckles, and sighing. He stood quickly and made a bee-line for the door, "I'm leaving!", he exclaimed before slamming the door behind him.

His dad was in the waiting room, reading a newspaper when he heard the sudden sound. Looking up he frowned at his son, he was hoping this would go better, it was getting hard to help Kevin on his own.

When Kevin was young his mother died, it was just him and his dad, it had been since he could remember. His father was trying his best and Kevin knew it, but he couldn't help how often he found himself annoyed or angry with the man. His dad knew Kevin had to take out his anger on someone, so he tried to be understanding, but more and more often they would argue about one thing or another.

"I'm going home, now." Kevin growled, walking quickly past his dad and right out of the door. He didn't stop walking until he reached his dads truck. He hopped in the bed of the truck and lied down, gritting his teeth as he put his hands behind his head and stared at the sky. It was mid-day, clouds littered the blue sky and it made Kevin relax. The soft billowing clouds floated so aimlessly, drifting away just as they came, effortlessly.

He sighed and closed his as he heard his dad approach the car. Once the engine started Kevin closed his eyes, listening to it hum as they pulled out of the parking lot. He just wanted to disappear for a while, figure out how to fix himself, and then come back better than ever. His friends didn't deserve him yelling at them, and his father definitely didn't deserve it either.

 **School has been very busy despite it ending in four days. I am hoping once summer break starts to update every Friday, and I'm also hoping to get this story up to at least 15 chapters or so. Hope you enjoyed!**


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